Leading Edge: Rita Jeptoo

Two days before the 2006 ING New York City Marathon, Rita Jeptoo sat with other Kenyan runners at Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park, being interviewed by reporters. Frequently, she looked to her right at middle distance runner Noah Busienei, who supplied answers or filled in details for her while his arm encircled her affectionately, and she appeared relaxed and secure in his company.

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Busienei, 32, is Jeptoo's husband, one of her coaches, her frequent training partner and her ally. But out on the roads, Jeptoo takes on the world's best alone, and she is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. She signaled her arrival in 2006 with a major marathon victory in Boston and a world championship medal in Hungary, and the road ahead looks bright for the 25-year-old currently hailing from the Nandi district of Kenya.

Born in the rural Moiben area of Uasin Gishu district, Jeptoo had run and competed in school, but hadn't pursued the sport. But when her family couldn't afford her roughly 28,000 Kenyan shilling annual tuition (some $400 U.S.), she dropped out of school. "I had to choose what to do," she said. "When I was younger, a long-distance runner, Sally Barsosio, and Tegla Loroupe came to our place. I wanted to be like Tegla." Jeptoo began training and made the 2000 national trials for the World Cross Country Championships. She raced on the track and roads abroad and was trained by Renato Canova, steeplechase world champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen's coach, but it was Jeptoo's 2004 marathon debut in Stockholm that decided her destiny after she won the race in 2:35:14. "It was difficult," she said, but the victory inspired her. "I wanted to do more."

She won Milan in 2004 in 2:28:11, and slashed her best time at the 2005 World Championships, placing seventh in 2:24:22. In 2006 she tackled Boston's hills. "The course is very difficult," said Jeptoo, who tailed and then dropped 2005 New York champion Jelena Prokopcuka, winning in a personal best 2:23:28. At the October World Road Running Championships 20K, Jeptoo took bronze in an African record 1:03:47. In New York, where Prokopcuka pulled away early to win, Jeptoo lost a battle for third by one second, but her New York and Boston finishes left her tied in second place on the World Marathon Majors leader board.

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Jeptoo's achievements have left their mark on those who figured in her career. Busienei helps coach her, but she has now inspired him to take the leap from middle distances. "I'm training for the marathon," he said. And Jeptoo's achievements have already impressed her childhood hero. Loroupe , the former New York champion, said of Jeptoo before the 2006 race, "She has a chance to win." Although she didn't, Jeptoo, the youngest woman in the top ten, has many years ahead to tackle New York and other major marathons. "She's one of the up and coming athletes to watch," said Loroupe. —Sabrina Yohannes

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